Learn how to pronounce this brewery’s name, what it means (it’s both an amalgamation of the owners names and øl, the Danish word for beer), and how they’re pushing boundaries with inventions like freeze-dried beer.

An important discussion on the liberalization of craft beer, wine and spirits in Ontario. It’s slowly happening, but we have a long way to go. Check out that chart at 19:49…. I don’t know how whisky makers can possibly turn a profit in this province. Can we talk about how Matt Gibson from Nickel Brook Brewery should have his own show?

Last weekend, I went to Volo to try Nectarous, Canada’s best dry-hopped sour, on tap. Yes, it is smooth, intricately tropical and impossibly juicy. I want more. While there, I also tried a few other farmhouse ales. Among them were: the fabulous sour barrelly Surette by Colorado’s Crooked Stave, a tart saison that tasted like herbal BO, and a beer that reminded me of … Yardley Lavender lotion. At first whiff, I dubbed this “the perfume beer” and it offended me greatly. But then I took another sip. And another sip later, I was all: “Yardley Lavender lotion.” Continue reading →

Here I am drinking my favourite beer (gueuze/lambic) aged in my favourite wine (vin jaune) barrels, at one of my favourite breweries in Belgium. This is happiness. Read about what makes this beer so special, and prey to the beer gods you get to try it one day. It is beautiful. It is my favourite beer of all time.

I joined Toastmasters last month, because I want to get good at public speaking for my next job. Even if I don’t end up speaking on stage in front of large groups of people, I want to be decent at it. Toastmasters is a club that allows you to do just that: get good at public speaking through weekly challenges. Your first speech, also known as the Icebreaker, is a simple introduction to who you are and what you’re into. What better opportunity to talk about one of my greatest passions: craft beer. Here’s the speech I gave this last week. Continue reading →

This past weekend, I attended my third Cask Days, the all-cask (*ahem*, mostly-cask) beer festival the Morana family started 11 years ago. It was awesome. Not only did I get to try some word-class brews like Four Winds Nectarous, the dry-hopped sour which won Beer of the Year at the 2016 Canadian Brewing Awards, but I got to cheers a bunch of my friends with said beer. Because we went for the first session on Friday. And had first pick of everythang. Also, Halo, that brewery I work for who won Best Newcomer at this year’s Golden Tap Awards, had two of their delicious offerings on cask: Event Horizon and Elder God. Continue reading →

Karma Citra is a 6.6% American style IPA that is released once a year. Citra is a very in-demand hop here in Ontario, and GLB has procured “as much Citra as we can to bring you as much of this IPA as our little brewery can muster” for this limited release. This year’s batch is a bit sweeter and maltier than usual, but just as fruity and delicious. I am bringing a bunch to Europe in November for beer trades.

I have seen it described as Canada’s best IPA…. Do you agree? Comment with your top Canadian IPA, or tweet me @evelynrockon.

Ralph Morana is credited for starting Toronto’s craft beer bar scene. He opened an Italian restaurant in 1988, made it a beer bar/restaurant in 1999, and rebranded to brewpub and craft beer destination Bar Volo in 2010. Since then, with the help of his family and sons Tomas and Julian, he has built something of a craft beer empire: they have their own importing agency, supply beer to some of Toronto’s best restaurants, and run Cask Days, the most ambitious beer festival in the country, which happens every October.

The Moranas are the reason we can get Cantillon in Toronto. I had it on tap last night, at a special preview of their new space Birreria Volo at 612 College St. A couple kegs will be making the rounds to some local beer bars soon. This is now a thing we can get used to. This is a big deal. Continue reading →